diff --git a/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pxd.pxi b/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pxd.pxi
index 3a952ca309a..9915b0ed1ab 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pxd.pxi
+++ b/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pxd.pxi
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@
 
 
 cdef grpc_ssl_roots_override_result ssl_roots_override_callback(
-    char **pem_root_certs) with gil
+    char **pem_root_certs) nogil
diff --git a/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pyx.pxi b/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pyx.pxi
index 20fc1c5fce7..357b0330d5c 100644
--- a/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pyx.pxi
+++ b/src/python/grpcio/grpc/_cython/_cygrpc/security.pyx.pxi
@@ -33,12 +33,14 @@ import pkg_resources
 
 
 cdef grpc_ssl_roots_override_result ssl_roots_override_callback(
-    char **pem_root_certs) with gil:
-  temporary_pem_root_certs = pkg_resources.resource_string(
-      __name__.rstrip('.cygrpc'), '_credentials/roots.pem')
-  pem_root_certs[0] = <char *>gpr_malloc(len(temporary_pem_root_certs) + 1)
-  memcpy(
-      pem_root_certs[0], <char *>temporary_pem_root_certs,
-      len(temporary_pem_root_certs))
-  pem_root_certs[0][len(temporary_pem_root_certs)] = '\0'
+    char **pem_root_certs) nogil:
+  with gil:
+    temporary_pem_root_certs = pkg_resources.resource_string(
+        __name__.rstrip('.cygrpc'), '_credentials/roots.pem')
+    pem_root_certs[0] = <char *>gpr_malloc(len(temporary_pem_root_certs) + 1)
+    memcpy(
+        pem_root_certs[0], <char *>temporary_pem_root_certs,
+        len(temporary_pem_root_certs))
+    pem_root_certs[0][len(temporary_pem_root_certs)] = '\0'
+
   return GRPC_SSL_ROOTS_OVERRIDE_OK